I was thinking of the stuff I've got around here to sprout and was thinking about sesame seeds. They usually get ground up in our feed at 2#/cwt, but that's in our chick/starter feed and not the layer feed ... not that layers wouldn't do well with sesame ... it's just that we usually only buy one bag a year and then we humans eat what sesame seeds are left over after all the chicks have reached full size. But we had a lot of sesame left over at the end of summer. Wait. I should save it for the breeding season, shouldn't I? It's in a cool location, so maybe it wouldn't go rancid before February, which is less than 3 months away. I should check dates on that.
Anyway, back to the question: Is anyone sprouting sesame seeds?
Sesame is an oil seed (as black oil sunflower seeds are) and a smidge of extra fat is good for the hens on rather blustery days or downright frigid ones.
Anyone that is sprouting black oil sunflower seeds know if the oils get washed out with the successive rinsings? I can't remember what the literature says about grains and seeds and the fat levels after sprouting. I could look it up again, but maybe someone remembers off the top of their head. Does the growth of the sprout use up and/or change the fat in oil seeds?
Thanks for link. When I formulated our feed some years back, I shied away from rye because it's said that it causes loose droppings and dirty eggs and some ancient study showed that it wasn't so great for chicks. However, sprouting is supposed to alleviate the loose droppings issue that comes with the dry grain. I also couldn't find it in large bags ... and now that I think about it ... maybe that was because so few folks use it for chicken feed. Did you find a large bag of rye? What numbers did you find for inclusion rates on the rye for hens? One study/book I have showed that the most the balanced feed should have is 20% rye grain. And of course, I'd sprout it for my hens, especially if I could get it at a price lower than wheat.
Anyway, back to the question: Is anyone sprouting sesame seeds?
Sesame is an oil seed (as black oil sunflower seeds are) and a smidge of extra fat is good for the hens on rather blustery days or downright frigid ones.
Anyone that is sprouting black oil sunflower seeds know if the oils get washed out with the successive rinsings? I can't remember what the literature says about grains and seeds and the fat levels after sprouting. I could look it up again, but maybe someone remembers off the top of their head. Does the growth of the sprout use up and/or change the fat in oil seeds?
Thanks for link. When I formulated our feed some years back, I shied away from rye because it's said that it causes loose droppings and dirty eggs and some ancient study showed that it wasn't so great for chicks. However, sprouting is supposed to alleviate the loose droppings issue that comes with the dry grain. I also couldn't find it in large bags ... and now that I think about it ... maybe that was because so few folks use it for chicken feed. Did you find a large bag of rye? What numbers did you find for inclusion rates on the rye for hens? One study/book I have showed that the most the balanced feed should have is 20% rye grain. And of course, I'd sprout it for my hens, especially if I could get it at a price lower than wheat.
) haha! This batch will be newer stuff though, should grow faster for sure. The old stuff works fine, just took about 10 days to get to the normal 6 day growth, and not as thick....not as many seeds germinated. I lucked out when I cleaned the shed out this morning, and found 6 more jiffy seed starter trays with clear tops, so using the clear tops under the black bottoms, with holes poked in the black bottoms. A little better plan than the foil. Woo hoo, here goes batch #2!
